The Special Adviser to Governor Samuel Ortom on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua has stated that his boss does not need to bribe the staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to win election.
Agerzua stated this while reacting to allegations made by the state’s All Progressives Congress, APC, that Governor Ortom has allocated large sums of money to compromise INEC staff.
In a press statement made available to newsmen in Makurdi, he said, “The All Progressives Congress, APC, yet to recover from defeat at the recent elections in Benue State, and facing imminent, irreversible devastating loss at the next round, made baseless allegations that Governor Samuel Ortom has allocated large amounts of money with which to compromise staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“These unfounded allegations being circulated in the media are surely the last kicks of a dying horse.”
He stated that the results of the February 23, 2019 Presidential and National Assembly polls where the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, won all the three Senatorial seats, clear majority in the House of Representatives as well as votes cast for the Presidential candidates indicated that the party was the preferred choice of the Benue people.
“Governor Ortom who has grassroots support from the people who spoke loudly and clearly through these elections therefore, has no need to compromise INEC staff to get votes through the backdoor.
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He insisted that the people are poised to once again vote for him massively like they did in 2015 without any undue influence on the electoral umpire.
“Moreover, if Governor Ortom has the amount of money mentioned in one of the reports published in the Nation newspaper of Monday, 4th March, 2019, he would channel it towards more judicious use rather than use it for illegal purposes.
“Since January, 2018, salaries have been paid up to date while funds are being sourced to pay the areas. Governor Ortom has had unblemished public and private sector records and there is no basis whatsoever to question his integrity.
“The people love him and are prepared to repose their confidence in him once more. He has never and does not need to resort to the use of thugs and the militia or any form of self help to prosecute election,” Agerzua added.
